Todd Howe

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s former closest aide, Joe Percoco, is waiting to find out whether he will be convicted of bribery and other charges as a jury continues to deliberate in federal court. Government reform groups say regardless of the verdict, the trial highlighted some questionable but legal practices in New York that they say taint the governor’s reputation and need to be fixed.

The flu epidemic is hitting the corruption trial of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s former top aide, Joe Percoco, with proceedings delayed for a day and a half because a key defense attorney has come down with the virus.

Governor Cuomo’s chief of staff was one of the first witnesses to testify at the corruption trial of Governor Cuomo’s former top aide, Joe Percoco. Linda Lacewell described Percoco as a trusted loyal and very senior aide to the governor.

The prosecution and defense offered two very different versions of events in the trial of Governor Cuomo‘s former top aide Joe Percoco and three business associates in Federal District Court in Manhattan Tuesday. Much of the prosecutors case will hinge on testimony of another former, associate Todd Howe who pleaded guilty to several felonies and will be the government’s star witness.

Indictments are due by Wednesday in an economic development corruption scandal involving Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s former top aide and other former associates. The governor has been active in recent days on other matters, including taking steps to counteract a rise in hate crimes after the election of Donald Trump as president.

Probes into alleged corruption by former members and associates of the Cuomo Administration deepened Thursday afternoon, as the Attorney General’s office conducted a raid at SUNY Polytechnic offices in Albany.